Playing for Attention for a Dangerous Disease

Counties Sponsor Golf Tournament to Help Kidney Group and Encourage Testing, Organ Donation

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson said he is joining two neighboring counties in hosting the first Tri-County Golf Classic in Fort Washington this month to help educate residents about the work of the Kidney Foundation, which will benefit from the proceeds.

"This is not about playing golf or a tournament at all," Johnson (D) said during a news conference Friday to announce the event. "This is about affecting lives."

Johnson said the county wanted to be part of the Kidney Foundation's effort to educate people about kidney disease, encourage organ donation and ultimately save lives.

Montgomery and Calvert counties also will host the tournament May 29 at Tantallon Country Club in Fort Washington.

"I'm delighted that the Tri-County Classic brings our counties together for such a worthy cause," Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said in a statement. "The health factors that can lead to kidney diseases affect so many of our citizens. Every opportunity we have to heighten awareness around prevention and intervention is one we shouldn't pass up."

Donald Shell, the Prince George's County health officer, said the risk of kidney disease can be reduced by 75 percent through early diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes. But few people get annual checkups or ask their doctors to run tests to check the protein levels in their urine.

The United Network for Organ Sharing says that more than 77,000 people across the country are waiting for a kidney transplant and that more than 1,600 of them are in the Washington region.

Etienne Cromer, 23, of Bowie is one of them.

Cromer, who is hooked to a machine three days a week for dialysis, learned the day before her birthday last week that she is eligible for a transplant.

"It has been a good week," Cromer said, smiling after the news conference.

Now, Johnson said, all the community has to do is find Cromer, who has O-positive blood, a kidney.

Shell said routine screening and treatment can prevent kidney failure. "We want people to have their kidneys checked," he said. According to state statistics, he said, 30 percent of Prince George's residents have been told by their doctors that they have high blood pressure, and 10 percent have been told they have diabetes. Both illnesses, which are prevalent in the African American community, have a tendency to cause kidney disease and renal failure.

Gloria Brooks, who is organizing the event, said she hopes the tournament will encourage people to get screened for kidney disease and consider organ donation.

"My brother lived with kidney disease for several years, and I donated a kidney, which prolonged his life," Brooks said. "This tournament is a tribute to my brother."

Additional information about kidney disease and organ donation is available at http://www.kidneywdc.org. Registration information for the tournament is at http://www.thepeopleschoicellc.com.